


Let It Snow

by aliensinflowercrowns



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Candlenights, F/M, Meet-Cute, but in a philosophical existential way, cause this is that, fluff palooza, kravkalackin candlenights gift exchange, sort of a soulmate au, what's the opposite of a slowburn?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 12:48:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17162258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aliensinflowercrowns/pseuds/aliensinflowercrowns
Summary: Magnus thinks he's found a shortcut to Merle's for Candlenights. His drive up north takes an unexpected turn.





	Let It Snow

**Author's Note:**

> this is my candlenights secret santa thing!! This was written for @witchflight on tumblr

“I still can’t believe that you don’t want to ride with us,” Lup said, frowning slightly at Magnus through the screen. The chastising wasn’t very effective, as she was wearing fake elf ears, a Candlenights hat with a bell on the end of it, and her face was covered in glitter. 

Magnus rolled his eyes. “And be a third wheel to you and Barry all day? No thanks.” 

Lup sighed. “You wouldn’t be a third wheel to me and Barry! Look, Taako’s here too!” 

The screen flipped around to show Taako, who was wearing the same Candlenights regalia as his sister, holding the phone in the passenger seat. He waved at Magnus and then flipped him off. 

“And I’m here as well!” Angus piped up from the backseat. Taako obligingly turned the phone camera back and showed Magnus Angus and Barry, sitting together with a mound of presents between them. 

“You guys don’t look like you would have enough room for me anyway,” Magnus said. The camera turned back to Lup. “Besides,” he continued. “I found a shortcut.” 

Lup raised an eyebrow. “That’s what people in horror movies say right before they get murdered. You can’t get murdered on Candlenights, Magnus. That’s illegal.” 

Magnus shook his head. “Well, because you asked so nicely, I’ll try not to get murdered.”

“You’re a dick,” Lup said. 

“Love you too,” Magnus replied. 

“Yeah, yeah. See you at Merle’s.” 

Magnus waved, and the rest of the people in the car loudly shouted their goodbyes. He shut off the phone and placed it in the empty passenger seat, then turned up the radio as he moved out of the gas station parking lot. 

“You’re listening to K-1069, The Roost. As the weather turns from White Candlenights to Snowed In, we’re wishing that all of you stay safe and warm out there, and to help you get into the spirit, we’ve got a full hour of Candlenights Classics.” 

Magnus smiled as he drove down the empty highway. This route would shave almost an hour off of his time to get to Merle’s. When Lup, Barry, Taako, and Angus showed up Magnus would already have his (poorly wrapped) Candlenights presents safely secured under the bush. Everything was going to be fine. 

 

Everything was very much not fine. Magnus had been driving for maybe forty-five minutes when his car started sputtering. His movements became jerky and stalled. He banged his hand on the dashboard, cursing the old piece of shit and yelling “I have vehicle proficiency!” about six times too many, as if that would convince the car to start working again. Magnus finally pulled over when he saw the smoke. Thick gray plumes emanating from his engine. To top it all off, the snow was getting so bad that he could barely see. It piled up on his windshield, and though his wipers were working as hard as they could, he could barely see the road in front of him. 

Magnus pulled over to the side of the road and reached for his phone. Maybe he could call triple A or something. Or he could swallow his pride and call Lup for help. Either optional was preferable to freezing to death. 

But when he pressed his home screen he found that he–of course–was without service. 

“Fuck,” Magnus said, loudly and with feeling. 

He knew that the gray smoke, while serious, wasn’t life-threatening, and he could leave the car without fear that he would return to a smoking crater. Magnus reached into the back seat, moving aside the Cuisinart he’d gotten for Taako, and grabbed his fluffy coat. He put it on over the hoodie and coat he was already wearing, and then opened the car door, ready to brave the elements. 

As Magnus walked along the road, searching for a town or a gas station or a shack or something, he tried to remember the name of the place he was in. He knew he was somewhere up east, in the mountains. He thought it was something like… Crow’s Nest? Or Raven’s Nest? Something like that. No, wait, Roost! Yeah. Raven’s Roost. 

Hopefully, the people in Raven’s Roost would be hospitable. If there even were any people. Lup’s comment about people in horror films rang in his ears. 

He was considering going back to the car and trying to fix the engine, when he spotted a log cabin, with a bricked chimney cheerfully pushing out plumes of smoke. Magnus thought briefly about lost children and candy houses, before rushing to the door and knocking. 

There was a slight commotion, and the sound of a lock unclicking, before the door was opened, revealing the most beautiful woman Magnus had ever seen in his life. 

Her eyes were a soft, deep brown. They were almond shaped and framed by red horn-rimmed glasses. Her hair, black and bushy, was let loose, and it fell in tight curls around her shoulders. She was tall, probably as tall as him, with a curvy body and dark skin. Her face was round and dusted with freckles. She wore gray sweatpants and a red sweater. 

“Hello?” she asked. “Can I… help you?”

“Ummm…” Magnus said, intelligently. “My car… broke. And it’s cold?”

The girl’s eyes widened. “Oh my god, and you’ve just been wandering outside? Do you have a death wish?! Get  _ in _ here!” She grabbed his wrist, pulling him into the cabin, and Magnus felt like he’d been zapped by electricity. He stumbled through the doorway, and she immediately let go of her hand. Magnus rubbed at his wrist, a strange, soft feeling in his chest. He looked up and met her eyes, and saw that she was holding her hand in a similar fashion. 

“Uh, hi,” he said. 

“Hello,” she responded, in a sort of awkward sing-song. Her voice was husky but sweet and musical. 

“I’m Magnus. Uh, Magnus Burnsides.”

She giggled. “I’m Julia,” she said. “Julia Waxmen.” 

“Nice to meet you, Julia. You have a lovely home.” It was lovely. He looked around. The whole place had an air of timelessness. It was all handcrafted furniture and soft woolen blankets, with various knick-knacks and picture frames. 

“Thanks,” she said. “I built it myself.”

“Holy shit, really?!” 

“Yeah. I mean, I guess it was mostly my dad? Considering I was thirteen at the time. But like, I definitely helped. Plus, we’ve done some many repairs in the last ten years that I’m pretty sure half the wood in this place was carved by these hands.” She wiggled her fingers. 

“That’s… that’s amazing,” Magnus said. “I’m actually a, uh, carpenter myself.” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah. Mostly house repairs, but I um, I also have an Esty.”

She laughed, a loud snort. 

“What?” Magnus asked, playfully defensive. 

“I dunno, you don’t really have an Etsy aesthetic, I guess.” 

Magnus smiled. “You’ve only known me for three minutes, Ms. Log Cabin Girl. I am very suited to Esty. I have rustic hospitality! Plus my foster brother Taako helped me set it up. He has an Esty where he sells cross stitches of memes.” 

Julia laughed again. Magnus wanted to hear her laugh all of the time. 

“Well,” she said. “I’ll have to look you up, see what you have for sale and such. When we get internet again…” 

“Yeah,” Magnus said, and shivered involuntarily. 

“Oh shit!” Julia said. “You should take a shower. And get out of these clothes. You’ll freeze to death. Also, make sure to check your fingers and toes for frostbite. What were you thinking, driving in this snow? Where are you even  _ from _ ?” 

“Uh… Tuscon, Arizona?” 

Julia shook her head. “Bathroom is down the hall, first door to your right. You can leave your clothes outside the door, and I’ll throw them in the dryer.” 

Magnus nodded. “Thanks,” he said. 

He slipped off his shoes, and then walked down the hallway, finding the bathroom with ease. Magnus carefully took off all his clothes, and then folded them up and slipped them outside the door, as Julia had asked him. He turned on the shower, setting it to a moderately warm setting (he was tempted to make it scalding hot, but knew that would shock his sense too much), then stepped in. 

Magnus forced himself to cut the shower short, he didn’t want to use all of Julia’s hot water, and then wrapped his bottom half in one of the green bath towels he found on the rack next to the shower. He shook the water out of his hair and opened the door, only to run into a Julia, who dropped the clothes she was holding in surprise. 

“That was quick,” she remarked. 

Magnus laughed. “Uh, yeah, I… I didn’t want to use all of your hot water.” 

“Oh. Well, are you de-thawed at least?” 

“Um… yeah.”

“No frostbite?” 

“N-No.” 

Julia laughed. “Well, now I’ll get to tell my friends that the abominable snowman who showed up at my door was revealed to actually be a very cute guy. Just like in the movies.”

Magnus smiled. “I need to watch more movies,” he said. 

“I brought you some, uh, clothes. Warm clothes. To wear while you wait. They’re uh, my dads. But he isn’t here! He’s at the store, right now. Like the store that we own. In town. He won’t be here until tomorrow morning. You have no reason to know that. I’m sorry, I–”

 

The soulmate phenomenon is something that is… controversial in the scientific community. Some say that it’s just a feeling, maybe an intense feeling, but nothing more than infatuation masking itself as an actual, physical occurrence. Others say that it’s observable, that it’s a rare happenstance, physically different from other emotions. 

Magnus once asked Barry, late at night, when they were seventeen years old, how he knew that Lup was his soulmate. It was Halloween, and they were drunk on stolen beer. Barry smiled and said, “I saw here, and we… we touched hands for the first time, and I just  _ knew _ . You know? It was like something inside of me, some flower or some shit, that had always been dormant like it bloomed. Like everything was aligning. And I thought, ‘wow, okay. You’re here. You’re my… my person, and we’re always gonna be together somehow and I know it.” 

Magnus laughed and shoved his shoulder, saying, “You’re such a hopeless romantic. Especially when you’re drunk.” 

But when Magnus kissed Julia, he  _ knew _ . He understood. The planets aligned and the stars shined brighter and every color was just that much sharper. It was like something inside of him that had always been a little off slotted perfectly into place. He knew her, her mouth, her body, her smell, she coursed through his entire being like an unstoppable current. 

Her hands reached up and tangled into his hair. His hand fell down to her waist. He’d barely known her for any time at all but somehow it had been enough to realize that he never wanted to be with any other person in his life. This was it for him. She was it for him. 

 

He broke the kiss, and a light blush dusted his cheeks. 

“Uh, s-sorry, I should’ve ask–”

Julia kissed him hungrily. She pushed him against the wall, her hand on the back of his neck. After a moment of surprise, he kissed her back, with just as much force. His hands moved from her hips to her hair to her face, holding her close to him. 

They broke again, both a little frazzled, panting, with dilated eyes and kiss-swollen lips. 

“Hi,” Magnus said, breathless. 

“Hi,” Julia responded. 

“I should, uh, put on clothes,” Magnus said and gestured to the towel wrapped around his waist. 

“Oh, yeah,” Julia gestured to the clothes on the floor. “I can pick these up for you–”

“No, I’ve got it,” Magnus said. 

The two of them crouched down at the same time, their heads bumping together slightly. They laughed. 

“Sorry,” they said at the same time, then laughed again. 

Magnus picked up the clothes, and stood, then pointed to the bathroom. “I’m gonna, uh, go get dressed.” 

“Good idea,” Julia said. 

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

They lingered like that a moment longer, staring at each other, neither wanting to break first. 

Finally, Magnus turned and went into the bathroom, shutting the door and leaning his forehead against it. 

“Shit,” he whispered, smiling to himself. 

 

Magnus re-emerged from the bathroom a few seconds later, wandering into the living room, where Julia was sitting curled up on the couch, holding a steaming mug. Another mug was on the coffee table. 

“I made coffee,” she said. 

“Oh, sweet,” Magnus grabbed the mug off the table and sat down next to her. She turned to him and smiled, cocking her head a bit. 

“What?” Magnus asked. “Do I have something on my face?”

“No,” Julia said. “No, it’s just… I don’t usually do that, you know. I don’t, um, just kiss random strangers who stumble into my house. Not that many random strangers stumble into my house but… I guess I never really imagined myself to be that kind of person? I mean, my first kiss was with my best friend when I was nineteen…”

Magnus nodded. “I get that,” he said. “I can’t say that’s something I make a habit of either. I mean, I’m very impulsive, don’t get me wrong, my catchphrase is ‘Magnus rushes in,’ but… I dunno. I’ve only ever kissed two other people, and one of them was on a dare.”

Julia giggled. “You have a catchphrase?” she asked. “What kind of human person has a catchphrase? What are you… Batman?”

“Oh no! You’ve found me out, my dastardly secret…  _ I’m Batman _ .” Magnus lowered his voice a few octaves in a truly terrible Batman impression. 

Julia laughed again, her eyes lingering on Magnus’s face. 

“I have a, uh, a landline, if you want. To call someone to tow your car. Or to call your family. Tell them you’re okay.” 

“Oh, yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” 

“Here, let me show you where it is.” She put her coffee down on the table and then stood up, walking towards the kitchen. Magnus hurriedly put down his coffee as well and followed her. 

“Okay,” she said. “So, here’s the landline, just press one before the number you want to call.” 

“Thanks,” Magnus said, smiling slightly. Julia turned to leave, but then whipped back and pressed a quick kiss to Magus’s lips. 

“See you soon,” she said, smiling slightly. 

“Lookin’ forward to it,” Magnus replied, and winked. 

He grabbed the landline and punched in Lup’s number. 

“Uncle Peepum Nastygum’s Roadkill Emporium, you kill we grill it, you’ve got Tit Liquid speaking,” Taako’s voice said through the speaker. 

“Hey, Taako, it’s Magnus.”

“Oh, hey Mango. Why aren’t you calling from your phone? Did you run over it again?” 

“Oh my god, when are you gonna let that go?” 

“Never, that shit was hilarious.”

“Yeah, well, I have my phone I just don’t have any service. I um… my car kind of broke down. And then got stuck in the snow.” 

“You mother fucker!” Lup’s voice rang through the phone. “I fuckin’ told you so!” 

Magnus pinched his forehead. “Am I on speaker phone?” 

“Yeah dude, of course. Where are you, we’ll come and pick you up.”

“I’m in uh… Raven’s Roost–” he put the phone against his chest and yelled into the living room. “What state are we in?” 

“Massachusetts!” 

“Raven’s Roost, Massachusetts.” 

“Oh, dunk we’re just past Boston. We’ll be there in like an hour–wait a minute. Who was that other person?”

“Right, so that’s the other thing. I met this girl…”

“You met a girl?” Lup’s voice cut in again. 

“Who met a girl?” Barry said as the car door slammed. 

“Magnus!” 

“Magnus met a girl?” 

“Yeah!” 

“Whatever, Magnus finally got some, Barold do you have my Cheez-Its?” Taako asked. 

There was a bit of shuffling. Magnus loudly cleared his throat. 

“ _ So _ ,” he said. “I met this girl, her name is Julia, she’s really pretty, like really… really pretty, and we, um, we kind of made out.”

“What?” Barry said. 

“Mag _ nus _ ,” Taako said. 

“Get it!” Lup said. 

“But I don’t know what to do and I just… I’ve never felt this way before. I think she might… like, I know this is cheesy, but I feel like she’s my soulmate.”

 

Magnus hung up the phone about ten minutes later and walked back into the living room. 

“How did it go?” Julia asked. 

“Uh, my family is gonna be here in like an hour–”

“Oh, that’s great!” 

“Yeah, and, um, they weren’t wondering…” His face burned with embarrassment. “Do you… do you want to come over for Candlenights?” 

**Author's Note:**

> happy candlenights! leave a comment if you're feeling particularly lovely and follow me on tumblr @ipretwins


End file.
